too much pine straw in azaleas??????
We recently bought a lake home in the Pinehurst, NC, area and have not gardened in that area before. We have a large area of long leaf pines on the lakefront with azaleas growing beneath. After trimming out deadwood and realizing some of the 25 or so plants have deadwood in the central crown area I am thinking the heavy layer of straw falling in the plants may have to be raked/pulled out of the bases of the plants possibly yearly in order for them to breathe. Anyone living in that area of NC have suggestions??
It's possible that excess straw could cause damage. Was the center of the plants covered? Was the layer of straw around the plants more than four inches thick? Have you raked back the whole layer of straw back to bare earth?
I have azaleas that I grabbed out of the trash in Atlanta that I brought home to Knoxville and 8 years later they are thriving with a few exceptions. These plants were Bobcatted out of the ground with no care given... out of 33 mature plants we rescued, we have 25 thriving azaleas. All were cut back dramatically when planted. I used to live in Little Washington NC and azaleas do like it there but with high heat I would be careful of removing too much mulch. I do not make my living as a landscaper, I am a master gardener though and LOVE azaleas.